GregW / Oregon

Here is detailed info on the system.

Premium Surround Sound in the M-Class

Speakers for the M-Class

14 high-performance speakers with optimum position in the car.

1 × 100 mm ALumaprene center speaker, in the instrument panel

4 × 43 mm dome tweeters, in the mirror sails and in the rear doors

2 × 168 mm woofers, in the front doors

2 × 100 mm ALumaprene midrange speakers, in the front doors

2 × 168 mm ALumaprene midwoofers, in the rear doors

2 × 100 mm ALumaprene surround speakers, rear

1 × 200 mm double voice-coil subwoofer in closed box, rear

Amplifier

Harman Kardon® high-performance Class D amplifier with 830 watts
total output and Logic 7® surround audio processing

Media and Formats

- DVD-Audio (MLP, MLP 5.1, Dolby® Digital 5.1)*
- DVD-Video (DTS® 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, Linear PCM)**
- Audio CD (DTS 5.1*, Linear PCM)
- MP3 on CD (at least 128kbps)

* In conjunction with the Audio 50 & COMAND systems
** In conjunction with the COMAND system only

otagomed

Thanks! That's actually why I didn't like my friend's C250's HK. There was a very annoying rattling with bass/woofer. I don't have that issue with my B&O.

Well... Will see how it is once I receive my car in April!
Thanks again for your info.

otagomed

After reading details of your order... I am seriously considering designo leather. I didn't even think about it for some reason until I read your post.
I haven't seen any in M class yet so please post your pic once you've received it!! I love beige/black combination so I'm thinking porcelain designo leather. I know that the maintenance will be difficult but really love the look. It's extra $2900 for me ($3500 less $600 for two tone leather) so I'm seriously considering it.

I also read the post on other forum ( http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w166...ons-ml350.html )
and this guy convinced me totally on why I should spend extra $2900. lol.

Have you (and anyone else) got an experience with white leather? Is it that difficult to maintain it? I haven't got little kids and plan to use my ML500 almost like a sedan rather than a SUV. My old BMW was grey leather and I kinda managed it alright.

Masterbuyer

Someone once posted that your blue jeans can wear off on the porcelain, but cleans right off. I suppose that is only true if you are wearing new, non-stonewashed jeans. Otherwise, nobody has reported any problems that I've read here.

I saw this leather in an ML63 with the Black Lacquer trim and it was stunning.

I almost ordered it myself until I learned that the stitch pattern in the non-ML63s would be the diamond hatch or quilt-like pattern. I felt that pattern was too feminine-looking for me to be paying so much extra for it. Maybe because it reminds me of the pattern of some of the designer handbags my GF has. In fact, when I showed her the picts of it, she commented that it looked feminine, which along with my friends already teasing me that I'm buying a soccer mom's car, it was all too much for my frail male ego.

But frankly, I'm still wishing I ordered it for my ML550 since the leather quality is much better than the regular leather and there is more of it, rather than MB-tex on the dash and other parts. And I agree with that other poster that it all makes it look very luxurious, like a Mercedes should.

Here's some picts of the black and porcelain designo I collected:

Benz Werd

Yes, considering what you actually get with the designo package I thought it was quite good value. ie. nappa leather on the door trims, dash, centre console etc and designo leather (which I assume is better than nappa??) on the seats. The biggest decider for me was the black fabric headlining. Pity it's not same as the Dinamica microfibre from the ML63 though, even though the brochure says it's included with designo, but Australia misses out on it for some odd reason. No big deal really, I mostly just wanted the darkness from the black rooflining and wasn't fussed on the actual material. I figure the standard black fabric will probably be easier to keep clean anyway.

I almost went for the porcelin too, but in the end decided on black for the same reasons as your concerns - cleaning & maintenance. The porcelin looks really nice with the black designo wood trim, but with the black leather I felt the burr walnut looked better as it broke it up a little bit.

In our C250 we have the two-tone alpaca grey & black interior. We've only had the car 6 months and found the seats were starting to get a little dirty after a couple of months. I went to Burson Auto Parts and picked up some Meguiars leather wipes (http://www.meguiars.com.au/products/...leather-wipes/) and they seem to work really well so far. Whatever was on the seats wiped off without hardly any effort. They also seem to condition a little as well as the seats feel a little softer afterwards. I'm actually not sure if this car has real leather or MB-tex. To me it feels like MB-tex but according to the specs sheet on MB's website it says 'full leather upholstery' but I'm not sure what that exactly means. Must ask the dealer about this.

I have seen some pics on this forum of other member's MLs with designo in both black and porcelin. Do a quick search and I'm sure you'll find them. It was a while back so I can't remember exactly what thread they were on. Otherwise you can have a look at the M-Class brochure on MBAuP's website and zoom in on the designo pics. There's 3 pics on there of the 3 colours available.

It's great that you can put your order in but still have a little bit of time to change or add options. I think the timeframe is around a month or a bit after ordering. Your dealer will be able to give you a date I'm sure.

Happy ordering!

otagomed

I talked to my dealer re designo leather and he said it will take another 12-14 weeks on top of usual wait of 12-14 weeks. So basically 6-7 months wait! I need a car before end of June 2013 so I think I will just go with standard leather.
Maybe next time...
2017 ML63 AMG with designo leather and Bang and Olufsen stereo!!!

Masterbuyer

Wow...I haven't heard of any such delays for designo for U.S. deliveries. Has designo suddenly become so popular that it is causing a backlog? I would call around to other dealers, and also speak with their inventory managers just to confirm. In my experience, misinformation is rampant with MB sales advisers, although even with inventory managers.

For example, I had one local inventory manager tell me that that the cost of designo was on top of the cost of the leather upgrade. I questioned this but he insisted. Turns out he was dead wrong, the cost of designo is exactly what the ordering guide says.

GregW / Oregon

I wouldn't do B&O due to the mandatory switch to runflats.

otagomed

Yeah. I was surprised too.
According to my dealer the vehicle has to be put in separate production line.

One thing that I don't understand is why don't MB build more factory and produce cars faster and make more money? Same with other car manufacturers. I waited my Audi 8 months and this time was told to wait ML for at least 4 months. Wouldn't it make sense for them to build more factories and produce more vehicles given that future demand for luxury vehicles will only increase due to increased demand from countries like China and India?
Of course you never know the future, etc... But isn't everyone complaining that their vehicles are taking too long to be built?

Well... Only benifit I can think of from MB's pont of view is that some customers like me tend to add more options while waiting and end up spending $10k more than the initial order. lol
But then I also know many people cancel their order too.

Is M class particularly popular in that the waiting is long or is it same with any othe MB models?

Benz Werd

I think 4 months is reasonable. The last 2 or so months of that is for transport here anyway. After they're built they sit for a while in the holding yard at MBUSA in Alabama, then they're sent (I assume via truck) to Savannah Georgia where they're loaded onto the ship. The ship then sails through the Panama canal stopping along the way and arriving in Melbourne about 4-5 weeks later depending on it's route. In my case it went via Brisbane and then Newcastle and is due here on Sunday around 4:00am. We're almost there!

Anyway how's this ... I remember as a kid back in the late 80s my Dad ordered a new 560SEL and it took 14 months to arrive!!

Alex.M

My local dealer also said it would take 2 months longer to get designo interior, so I ended up sourcing the car that I wanted from out of state. The whole delayed gratification thing is too overrated. I couldn't wait 4 months and I don't know how you do it down under.

I guess longer waits for Australia and the UK are justified by the fact that your steering wheel is on the wrong side. There is only so much twisting they can do to their production conveyer to accommodate smaller runs for right-hand drive cars.

I have had my '13 for 3 weeks. The best truck we have ever owned. The designo leather is very rich looking but I wouldn't wait for it for 8 months. What I would really recommend is suede headliner - it looks and feels amazing. Don't order night vision - I have not been able to come up with a viable use case for it. The HK sound is fine with me. We have B&O systems at home and they are good but there are many aftermarket systems that are much better. I am sure there are indy shops near where you live that can upgrade your HK system to the level no OEM sound system can touch. So, there is that option.

You will love this car!

otagomed

4months surely sounds better than 14months. I actually don't need a car right now can wait 8months for this car. Only thing is that I am trying to get $5000 immediate depreciation tax benifit from tax department. So I am trying to get it by 30 June.

otagomed

Yes. You guys in in America are so lucky.
4-8months wait is norm for us and we have to pay almost double for the car.
ML350 110-120K
ML500 130-140K
ML63 190-200K

SLS 550K + !!!!

Also I realized that the interest rate for car loan is so low there.
My car loan interst rate for 2010 Audi is 9%. Luckily with ML I only have to pay 5.75%. Still too high!!!

Well I guess that's what you get when you live in the largest county(economically) in the world!

Anyway, thanks for your comments!

Thimee

Similar thing in South Africa - the price there is close to double ($110k for a ML500) what one would pay in the USA ($59K).

I custom ordered my ML550 with all kinds of extra options, including the awesome auburn brown and ash interior in early October, took delivery late November. I had an great sales person find the build slot for me that had most of my requested spec list (almost two pages long), I'm sure this went a long way towards my speedy build (around 30 days) and delivery (2.5 weeks from Alabama to Colorado).

cookstar

dont be so down, I know countries in the Middle East where a Mercedes ML350 will run you just shy of $250,000 USD...... an "entry" model Maserati will run you a cool $900,000

otagomed

Thank you. I feel better now. lol
My friend in Singapore also paid close to 200K for Audi Q5. Ridiculous prices some countries have...

awjenni

I am not exactly an audiophile, or whatever the gurus of good sound are called, so my opinions should be taken with a grain or two of salt. .

I have a 2102 BlueTec and I love it. I opted for what was then the Premium 2 package (S02) which included the Harman/Kardon system among other things such as Keyless Go. Included with the audio system system is the Harman/Kardon demonstration CD. I have listened to the entire CD while sitting in the car with the engine turned off. It is fabulous. Every little nuance and subtlety of the original performance jump out at you, The sound is terrific to my mostly untrained ears. It is a "Wow."

However, at 60 mph over a concrete highway, I doubt that I could tell any difference between the HK and the standard audio system (whatever it is). All of those subtleties and nuances are lost on me. It sounds fine, I can hear it... but premium sound?? No. Not because it isn't an excellent product, it's the noisy environment... wind, road, tires, fans, traffic, engine, exhaust, etc.

Just my $.02.

Al

BlackSL

I had the normal audio (audio20?) with HK setup, then I upgraded to the Command system with hard disk and navigation. Seems like with a normal unit (audio20?) logic 7 isn't included.

After upgrading I was able to setup the logic7 surround sound option.

But the truth is, my wife's HK setup sounds better than the setup I have in the G63, also with HK. But not comparable/ as good as a custom setup which I have in the GL500.

Alex.M

Look up Norway. It will make your head spin. Registration tax alone on the ML63 is over $260,000.